Category: The DayBook

Did everything on my 2Do list today. Everything. Think that means that I needed a more ambitious 2Do list.

Main thing I did was interview that potential CPA. He has more than a few negative Yelp reviews. But, mostly about his “bedside manner”. I am not going to date the guy. I want him to do my taxes. He is mid-40s. Should outlive me. If he annoys me too much this year – well – I’ll start looking for a replacement. I had fun teaching him how to share a screen in Zoom. 

And, what did I ask him? Well I asked ChatGPT for “questions to ask new tax CPA”

1. 1. What is your experience with tax preparation?
   2. Do you have any specific areas of expertise (e.g. small business, investment income, international taxes)?
   3. How do you charge for your services?
   4. What can I do to make the tax preparation process as smooth as possible?
   5. How do you stay up to date on tax law changes?
   6. Do you offer any additional services, such as financial planning or representation in the event of an audit?
   7. Can you provide references from past clients?
   8. How do you ensure client confidentiality?
   9. How do you communicate with your clients (e.g. phone, email, in-person meetings)?
   10. Do you offer any guarantees for your work?

Those were pretty good questions. I didn’t ask him everything. But most of them. I would never have thought of asking #4. And I don’t think anyone ever asked that question. His answer was “Read what I send you”.  

Well, that was an interesting result. I would never “imagine” putting the pancakes in the syrup bottle. But, I am neither Artificial nor Intelligent.  But, it’s a cool image. The Asylum has blueberry pancakes this week as a special. 

Well, things are getting out of Xmas/NewYears mode and going back to “normal”. So, I was able to actually do some things today. Like seek a new Tax Guy. I have rejected a couple of options because they are old. And, I don’t want to do this again. And several have rejected me because the aren’t taking new clients. One is taking new clients. Which, of course, worries me. Why is he taking new clients? Sort of like Groucho Max’s old line: I don’t want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member. 

But the guy who is willing to take me on doesn’t seem to have a criminal record. He isn’t very convient for the bus – but this is 2023, I don’t imagine I would need to ever go to his office. I only went to the old tax guy’s office once.

And it is wonderfully warm. Windows open warm. 

The first floor of The Asylum is OVERSTUFFED with Xmas decorations. One of my friends says it looks like Macy’s. Hopefully, the stuff will all vanish tomorrow. Christmas is one of the reasons I go to Hawai’i. To escape. 

Turns out, and I didn’t know this until 2020, “my” floor has its very own circa 1955 creche (complete with snow-white baby Jesus)  that appears shortly after Thanksgiving. 

Apparently one or more of my fellow residents thought that the creche and all of the other Christmas accouterments should leave. Now. So, whoever has appointed themselves our Floor Xmas Decorator says “Christmas Dec 25 to Jan 6”. 

I deserve a medal (with oakleaf clusters) for not taking my crayons out and defacing the sign.

And I would hasten to point out that the Three Wise Guys shouldn’t be displayed until Jan 6 in any case.

Finished, more or less, my total immersion MidJourney project. I learned much about controlling MidJourney. It produced some really good images. Most needed a little tweaking with Photoshop. It is something that I could not have done without a lot of stock photography. I spent two days doing it. It was a nice exercise. It’s a little 3-minute thing to loop on the screen in the auditorium whilst people gather for a meeting next Monday. 

Except for New Year’s Brunch, I spent Day 1 of 2023 doing MidJourney. Coming up with pictures for my little slide show. 

Just before dinner, MidJourney busted me for “Imagine 1500 pairs of underwear”. Turns out underwear is a forbidden word. It was willing to:

Since I didn’t want to get banned for life I didn’t mess around much past “pantaloons” and “unmentionables”.  

PEG’S WAYBACK MACHINE – JANUARY 1, 2003

So far so good for 2023.

The Asylum is having a “normal” New Year’s Eve Celebration. Last year they canceled New Year’s Eve and locked us up. Their ability/willingness to lock us up seems to have seriously waned since then.

I spent the last day of 2022 puttering around with MidJourney. I have a real project. On with a deadline and a client and 20-30 images are required. That will focus my learning.  

Tonight, dinner with my accidental family. I made origami bunnies. Missing Hawai’i on New Year’s Eve. The New Year is more important than Xmas in Hawai’i. Parties, food, fireworks. And, New Year’s was celebrated from January 1 until at least the lunar New Year. January 22 in 2023. 

Fired up ChatGPT today. It is scary good. 

Now, why can’t someone come up with a good Robot AI Cat? 

Carlton didn’t do Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Birthdays etc. But, he did remember anniversaries. And, December 30 is the day that he considered our anniversary. 44 years ago. He is still the one for me.

He is still a part of my life. I do things like contest a $1.63 incorrect charge on my Asylum bill because he would expect me to. AA is still a part of my life. I don’t go to meetings. But the principles are stuck in my head. Every time a see a penny on the ground, I have to pick it up. I figure he put it there to test me. 

GRATITUDE

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Grateful for all the good years I had with Carlton. I kissed a lot of frogs before he showed up. We worked at the same company. Grateful we didn’t WFH then!

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About that new Google Watch. I like it. A lot.  Mostly, I like that it passes texts, emails that Google considers “important”, Alexa reminders, and phone calls to me when I am here and my phone is there. Oh, and it tells time too. And acts as a remote for the phone’s camera. That’s pretty cool. Sooner or later Google will implement the “Help I have fallen and can’t get up” feature. Which is what my friends used to rationalize the purchase of an Apple Watch. Not me. I just like toys. 

After visiting the dentist for my quarterly teeth cleaning, I decided to “Imagine fluffy super cute rabbits celebrating new year.” again. And this is what I got. It is undoubtedly Artificial. But none too sure about the Intelligence part. But, there are 4 rabbits and 8 ears.  The allocation leaves something to be desired. 

Played on. Midjourney is kinda like a computer game. It sucks you in. 

Illness continues to roam the halls of Castle Covid. Nobody gets out alive.

Covid is increasing here at the asylum. 21 new cases among residents in the last five days. We are sort of like China. Draconian measures kept Covid at bay for 3 years. And then a return to “normalcy” unleashed the cases. 

My big event today was a 2-hour nap. And, I finished up the mail. Played with the watch a little. Went for a nice fitness walk. Not too shabby of a day for an old woman. 

Going to the dentist tomorrow afternoon. Grateful to have teeth and enough money to pay the dentist to help keep them.

The Google watch arrived this afternoon. A day early. When I went down to get the watch, I stopped off for a tankard of coffee. Be Prepared.

Of course, I use my stovetop as a workbench. You don’t think I use it to cook, do you?

First thing I had to do was figure out how to swap out the large watch band for the old lady size one. 

I got it to tell time, date, temp – outside, and heart rate – mine. 

Guess my next job is to figure out what it does other than date, time, temp and heart rate. 

Wonder if this will be a technology keeper or another one in a long line of techno-toys that really didn’t hack it for me. 

Surprised at how dark it is at 6:47 in the morning. And, this is the time of the year when no sun shines in my windows. The sun will return in about 6 weeks. 

One problem came up in my absence. My CPA retired and none of his partners were willing to take me as a client. So, job one for me is to find a new tax guy. And,  I think I will need to consider doing my own taxes this year just to check out the new guy. Assuming I find a new guy. Or I could just go back to doing my own taxes. Frankly, getting the stuff ready for the tax guy is most of the work. 

Gratitude

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Grateful that I need a tax guy.

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I got a box of cookies today.  In a really cute box. Boxing day. 

MidJourney’s take on Boxing Day.  I like my box of cookies better. But, this is interesting. 

Good thing I didn’t worry too much about getting home. That’s one thing that not doing TV does for you. You don’t have so much to worry about. I left for the Kona Airport at 3 PM HST.  And walked into The Old Bat Cave at 1:03 PM EST, which is just about as fast as can be expected. 

Had a (scheduled) 3-hour wait in Chicago. There were people milling around who looked like they had spent way too much time at the airport.  They had a lot of luggage, Starbucks cups, and foil/mylar survival blankets. My trip was normal. But not everyone’s was.

The biggest “problem” was the lack of coffee on the Chicago to National flight. According to the flight attendant. “The coffee pot is frozen.” Damn sight better than the fuel line being frozen. 

Suddenly taken very tired. ( 8:50 PM.) Bedtime!

One last breakfast with friends. One last visit to Honls. One last walk by the ocean. Hope to do it again next year. But, No one is promised tomorrow. Enjoy every moment.

Pretty sure I’ll make it to Chicago. The plane that will take me to Chicago is well on the way  to Kona and is scheduled to land in plenty of time for a near-on-time departure.  

GRATITUDE

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54 nights in Kona. Happy visit with Sam. Enjoyed the glow from the Mauna Loa eruption. Enjoyed good health. Made some new friends. Lost a couple of unwelcome pounds.

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Trying to keep positive as I return to frigid Castle Covid.
PS – Just ordered Peg a Pixel watch.

Think I should think about packing. Soon. Not yet. But soon.

Mālama Pono